Photo credit: D. Grishkin / Press Service of the Mayor and Government of Moscow / mos.ru (CC BY 4.0)
The results of the competition of opera soloists, which bears the name of Elena Obraztsova, were summed up in St. Petersburg, Rossiyskaya Gazeta reports.
This year the qualifying round was held online. Out of almost 400 applications, about 50 people got into the next stage. According to Natalia Ignatenko, who heads the charitable foundation of the great singer, it was decided to let them all into the second round. She noted that the competition was expected to be very tough, as the number of participants is usually smaller.
In the second round, the participants performed romance songs by Russian and foreign composers and an Italian aria. 14 people made it to the final. They represented Russia, Armenia, Uzbekistan, Ukraine, Mongolia and China.
Aksel Daveyan from Armenia received the first prize. The second prize was awarded to mezzo-soprano Valeria Torunova and tenor Igor Onishchenko, members of the Bolshoi Theater Youth Opera Program. Russian Elizaveta Kulagina and Chinese Zhang Lei shared the thrid place.
The audience award was won by Valeria Gorbunova. She also received the award "For the best performance of a work from the repertoire of Elena Obraztsova."
The participants of the third round were awarded diplomas of the competition and cash prizes. After the solemn rewarding, a gala concert of the laureates took place.
Next year the competition will have several anniversaries at once. It will be held for the 15th time and will turn 25 years old. The competition of young vocalists will be held for the 10th time. The music world will also celebrate the 85th anniversary of Elena Obraztsova.
Russkiy Mir
